Dallas billionaire fined for illegal GOP contributions

Source: AP

AUSTIN — State ethics officials fined Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons' political action committee $6,450 over campaign contributions to Texas lawmakers that were illegal because the prominent Republican donor was the sole donor to the PAC.

The ruling by the Texas Ethics Commission comes nearly a year after a watchdog group filed a complaint against WCS-Texas Solutions, which has called the nearly $65,000 in illegal campaign contributions the result of a mistake. The PAC was created by Waste Control Specialists, which is owned by Simmons and runs a nuclear waste site in West Texas.

State law requires PACs to have at least 10 donors before handing out campaign contributions. But when the newly formed PAC gave 18 state lawmakers — 15 Republicans and three Democrats — between $1,000 and $10,000 in 2011, Simmons was the sole source of the funds.

Texans for Public Justice, the nonprofit advocacy group that filed the complaint, said Wednesday it was disappointed in the "meager" size of the penalty.